Rob Kautz: Cursed to 99 Cents Only?

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Do you believe in curses? Some say that the movie Blade Runner laid a curse on corporate sponsors. Here are some 1980s icons that will not be appearing in 2019, the year of the movie's setting: Pan Am and TWA airlines and the Bell telephone system. Coca-Cola lost tons of money on a "new formula," while others like Atari (now owned by IESA) and Cuisinart (now owned by Conair) went bust but were snatched up by others. (You can read more about the curse at BBC and UnderWorld Industries.) Of course, not every company in Blade Runner hit the skids. Coke is alive and kicking. TDK and JVC are OK. And L.A. Eyeworks is not only thriving, but it's also where super chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken got their start together, long before they became The Too Hot Tamales. In fact, Hampton Fancher, who penned the Blade Runner screenplay, was a regular at that famous little joint of theirs, CITY Cafe. (It's all in Super Chef, p. 139.) "Whoah!," right? Big Foodie connection! Well, wait until you get a load of this! It's a Conan O'Brian moment: Blade Runner is to Corporate Sponsors as -- that's right -- Wolfgang Puck is to mass-market division presidents. In Fine Dining, you see, a curse seems to eminate from Wolfgang Puck Worldwide -- on its presidents. It's an odd-even pattern, with the curse on the even. First, there was the co-founder of the Wolfgang Puck Food Company (pre-cursor of Wolfgang Puck Worldwide), Dr. Robert Koblin, who was simply ousted by the board but kept his day job as a heart specialist. Second, there was Selwyn Joffee, a transplanted Brit (read Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One) and CPA, who took over and expanded the business aggressively, only to be ousted and eventually wind up as president of Motorcar Parts of America. Third came Frank Guidara, a Restaurant Associates veteran, who graduated from Wolfgang Puck Food Company to head up Au Bon Pain and more recently the Uno pizzeria chain. Fourth and most recently, after disappearing from Wolfgang Puck Worldwide as president and CEO last year, Rob Kautz reappeared on the Media radar yesterday at 99 Cents Only Stores, as a new management team member with the titles of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before working with Wolf, Rob was CFO and then president of Koo Koo Roo, originally hailing from PricewaterhouseCoopers. (Click here to read his complete WPW bio.) Now, if you're not from the Southwestern USA, you may not be familiar with 99 Cents Only Stores, so to appreciate its charms, Superchefblog recommends that you read this 2003 article on the chain in Fortune Magazine. 99 Cents Only's stock price has dropped nearly 50% from this time last year, so Rob has his work cut out for him. Of course, he can bring the company stock back above $15/share, maybe he can mint a penny on every 99¢ -- in which case, he may be laughing all the way to the bank. Who knows? (OK, maybe the curse angle is a bit elaborate -- but how else to explain such a come-down from the Wolfgang Puck brand to 99 Cents Only?) Press release: BusinessWire Reference: Super Chef (pp. 25 about Robert Koblin, pp. 25-28 about Selwyn Joffe, pp. 28-34 about Frank Guidara, and pp. 35-36 about Rob Kautz) Related news: Forbes (AP) San Jose Mercury News (AP) Previous articles: Facelift for ex-Wolfgang Puck's Cucina! Cucina! Wolfgang Puck: Eastern Empire Paul Prudhomme Magic Growth (Robert Koblin) Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine --> back to superchefblog